


Weekdays

by Indulgenceahoy



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: But mostly fluff, Fluff, Gen, Honey Mustard - Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Shippy, bit of angst, low burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-08-14 20:54:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8028586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indulgenceahoy/pseuds/Indulgenceahoy
Summary: He always visits on Thursdays.A bit of fluff moments mostly between Underswap Papyrus (Paps) and Underfell Sans (Red).  Takes place before the main events of the Broken Bonds story line but these may or may not had happened.  Mostly character explorations with a bit of shippy undertones.Edit: Will be adding the rest of the week.  ;)





	1. Thursdays

Underswap was one of those places that if weren’t particularly keen on being sociable with -everybody- you probably would want to avoid.  Or, if you HAD TO go there, make your visits it in very small, tiny, itty bitty doses.

 

It was weird to Red, because Underswap was just practically a carbon copy of his own hometown.  Except the sun was warmer, and the snow brighter, and the buildings had not been destroyed by some kind of conflict in at least a century. 

 

It was just a _nice_ place.

 

And it made him very _uncomfortable_.

 

But he kept coming back.  He didn’t have to.  He didn’t get trapped there when he did (although sometimes it felt like it).  He … he just kept coming back. 

 

Maybe - not that he would readily admit it, not even to himself - it was because he liked one monster there.  Maybe a couple more than that if he was lenient and, they weren’t being particularly obnoxious. 

 

These monsters were just ...nice. 

 

And _stupid_.

 

And **nosy**.

 

Oh my god, so nosy.

 

And, if he had to admit to something, it was tolerable to go somewhere where he didn’t have to keep his guard up all the freaking time.  It was exhausting to always have your magic at the ready, and he had never realized how much, until he decided to just let it rest.  Red had done it just because he dared him to do it.   Pap’s relaxed smirk had been bordering on upsetting.  “Bet you can’t do it”.

 

“Yes I can. …..   There, you happy?”  He remembered saying and feeling slightly dizzy when he magic had stopped buzzing about his head.  Then he looked at Pap’s face with his forever drooped eyelids. 

 

“Yes ...You look weird calm.“

 

 **Aaauugh.**   He was infuriating. 

 

Yet he kept coming back.

 

******

 

That particular day was gloomy and rainy and for once Underswap actually felt right. Or, close to it.  The streets were unusually empty for being midday, as most monsters were indoors keeping dry.. The rain would probably turn to snow soon. 

 

He was … maybe two minutes … from being completely drenched.  He really didn’t mind. He enjoyed walking in the rain.  The white noise was pleasant on his ears.  The occasional rumble of thunder was nice as well. It felt like a really strong heartbeat inside his ribcage. Powerful and encompassing.  A storm in the Underground was a rare event and, he had read somewhere that storms usually had lighting as well, which he had never seen.   He bet they were fantastic as well. 

 

He took his time walking down the street towards Paps and Blue’s home.  He would probably make a fuzz about … no wait, he wouldn’t … he would probably make a sarcastic remark while his younger brother made a fuzz about him being out in the rain.

 

He was kinda looking forward to that. 

 

What he wasn’t expecting was running into Pap’s in the middle of the street.  

 

He had just been standing there with an umbrella, looking as tall and lanky as usual.  He held his perpetually lit cigarette in his left while holding on to the umbrella with his right.  He did not look entirely shocked to see Red. 

 

“Hey” he greeted, regarding him through half lidded eyes.

 

“Hey” responded Red smirking at him  “What are you doing out in this weather?” 

 

“Getting some lunch.”  Paps put the cigarette between his teeth and leaned forward, so the umbrella was now mostly covering the smaller skeleton. “Sans is out visiting the Queen and you know me, and cooking…”

 

Red always found it odd to hear Paps refer to Blue as Sans, even though that was his actual name.  It was his as well.  Their color coded nicknames had been adopted to avoid confusion. Still, for some reason Paps insisted on always calling Blue, “Sans”.  It … was weird to him.

 

“Hey, I’m fine” said Red moving out from under the umbrella.  “It’s just fucking rain”

 

Paps made a noise.  Kinda like a knowing chuckle or maybe it had been a suppressed cough.   He probably had heard this same type of argument from his younger brother before, who despite having the whole hero-worship-his-brother thing going on, still didn’t like it when he was treated like a kid.

 

Paps didn’t insist on the umbrella but moved closer, so they were now both under it. 

 

“Yeah, but you smell when you’re wet” he said.

 

… _what?_

 

Paps looked at him obviously expecting this reaction.  He shrugged.  “Hey no offense, you just do” 

 

_… what the arm-flailing-what?_

 

“I do NOT SMELL” argued Red.

 

“Oookay. If you say so” 

 

Red kicked Paps in the shins.  The tall skeleton reeled from the hit but he laughed.  “Ow! Ow.  Okay I deserve that.  I’m sorry I informed you that you smelled”

 

Red spread his arms “Really?  You gonna be like that?”

 

Paps made that chuckle/cough sound again “Let me make it up to you.  Let me buy you lunch” 

 

Red huffed.  “Ok, fine.  A real lunch. None of your water sausage crap” 

 

“Muffets, then” assured Paps. 

 

“Eh … I hate sweet stuff…” 

 

“Eeerrr” Paps looked around. “Snowdin isn’t exactly restaurant heavy ... “ 

 

“You got anything at home?” asked Red. 

 

“Possibly. I didn’t check”  Papyrus took one last puff off his cigarette and threw it away.  “Mmmh, I think Sans said something about there being left over tacos or something …”

 

“UGH”  It wasn’t that Blue’s tacos were bad.  It was that they were _really_ bad, but he had made do with worse.  “I can maybe make us something”

 

“That’s not much in the way of buying YOU lunch” smirked Paps.

 

“No, but it's not my fault that all of your food choices are shitstastic”  The smaller skeleton started walking towards the Underswap brothers house as if on a mission.   Paps swiveled on one foot and followed along.  He stumbled a little bit on the way.  Rain always did that him.  It just took the energy right out of him.

 

*****

 

About an hour and a towel dry off later, Paps and Red sat on the old couch eating sandwiches that contained everything, with some extras, that had been in the fridge.

 

Red borrowed some of Sans clothes.  He was glad to find out that the blueberry in fact did own other clothes that weren’t blue or gray.  They had found a simple white t-shirt and black sweats. They were from before he adopted his “battle” outfit, Paps explained, as he hung Red’s wet clothes close to their floor heater to dry.  Red did insist on keeping his jacket on, despite it being wet.  This was his “battle outfit”. 

 

 Paps had to admit that Red sandwiches were pretty good. If a little heavy on the mustard.  However, he had only been able to take a couple of bites before having to put his down.  He leaned back on the couch and listened to the t.v. distractedly.

 

Red was already on his second sandwich.  Cooking for somebody else always made him hungrier.  Maybe it was the smell of the food.  Maybe it was just because he enjoyed (not that anybody needed to know that) doing it.  His own brother often ate out and they didn’t share many meals. 

 

When he finished it, he noticed Paps uneaten one on his plate.  His heart dropped.  He thought he had done a good job at making those.

 

“Hey, you didn’t like it?”  He tried to sound as casual as possible but it was obvious that he was disappointed.

 

“Hm? Yeah … I did.  I’m just not hungry”  He straightened out “It's good.  Really.  I’ll eat it later”

 

“Pfff, don’t do me any favors” sulked Sans  “You’re the one that wanted to have lunch”

 

“It’s fine.  Really”  Paps took the sandwich and took a bite to show that he didn’t think it was poisonous.

 

His face, however, said otherwise as it took on a sickly orange color.  There was no way for Paps to be gracious about this, so he just ended up taken a napkin from the stack on the table and spitting out the rest of the bite into it. 

 

“...nice…” commented Red sinking into his jacket.

 

Paps coughed into his hand.  “It’s not your food” he insisted.  He flopped back on the couch.  “My stomach is just being …” he gestured over his midsection  “flippy bloopy”.

 

“What…”

 

Paps sighed.  Sometimes he hated it when his little brother’s mannerisms rubbed off on him.  “I’m just not feeling well”

 

He only got more glaring from Red after his admission.  Well he really couldn’t blame him.  This was probably payback for calling him “smelly” earlier. 

 

Red huffed and jumped off the couch.  He went around their small tray tables to Papyrus’ side.  He then proceeded to slap his hand on the tall skeleton’s forehead. 

 

“I don't think you have a fever” he said. He put his hand all over Paps’ face. Truth be told, he had no idea what a fever felt like on another monster.  He had gotten a few when he was younger but that was different and his brother never got sick.  So… he was just guessing. 

 

He lifted his hand and noticed that Paps was smirking at him.

 

The tall skeleton still had that sickly orange glow about him but obviously that didn’t stop him from enjoying the attention.  “Aren’t you touchy feely today” he said.

 

Red felt his own face going through all the shades of red in existence. 

 

“Asshole” he said.  He zipped up his jacket.  “I’m going home.  Puke yourself to death for all I care”

 

“Wait, wait, wait” Paps coughed again making Red take pause.  “Sorry, I wasn’t lying when I said I wasn’t feeling well.  I think it's just a cold though”

 

“Whatever.  Why were you out in the rain if you weren’t feeling well then?” reprimanded Red keeping his distance but not actively leaving.  He was kinda glad he didn’t have to.  He could hear the storm picking up strength outside, but he wasn’t going to stay if Paps was going to be all “flippy bloopy” about his attempts to help him.

 

Papyrus sunk even further into the couch.  “Because it's Thursday”

 

“AND??”

 

“You always visit on Thursdays”

 

Red opened his mouth.  He closed it.  Opened it then closed it again.  He guessed he did.  He hadn’t really noticed even though that was the day he got off from his sentry duties. Did he always come on his day off?  Really?

 

“... and? So what if I come every Thursday?”

 

“Well it was raining and I know tough guys don’t carry umbrellas” Paps sneezed.

 

“For all the good that it did YOU”

 

“I’m not tough.  I’m soft and squishy” mock whined Papyrus. 

 

Red rolled his eyes.  “Of course you’re soft. You live in this hellhole of niceness.  You wouldn’t stand a chance in Underfell.”

 

Papyrus waved his hand conceding defeat at Red’s assessment.  His eyes were starting to droop. 

 

“I guess I’ll keep you company” said Red climbing back onto the couch.  “Otherwise Blue will whine me to death if you end up falling off the couch and breaking your neck” 

 

“Your effort is much appreciated” said Paps solemnly. 

 

They settled on watching a bad movie about a robot who happened to be a cop, and a cop who happened to hate robots but didn’t know his partner was one and was only 3 decades from retirement.  Somehow you were supposed to care about this, or whatever.   Red really wasn’t paying attention as he was asleep and snoring quite content.  On his end, Paps was using his shoulder as a pillow, equally content on sleeping instead of watching the movie. 

 

Outside, it continued to rain for the rest of the night in Underswap.

 

A nice place that Red would continue coming back to.


	2. Fridays

When Red first woke up, he thought he was back home.   He yawned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with his right hand, right before the realization that his left was pinned down by something heavy, reached his mind fully. 

 

He looked down and the sight made him remember all at once where he was and who the heavy thing was. 

 

He was still in Underswap. _Shit._

 

He had fallen asleep at Pap’s house.  _Shit._

 

That was Paps’ skull using his arm and lap as a pillow.  _Shit._

 

And that was morning light coming in through the curtains.  That meant it was Friday. **SHIT.**

 

He wrangled his left hand from under Paps shoulders, getting a bit of a complaining groan from the otherwise comfy skeleton. _What time was it?_

 

His Sentry duty didn’t start until 8:00 a.m. but his brother usually expected him to be up for morning reports -not that there was anything to report on most days- by 7:00 a.m.  Perhaps he could make it back to Underfell in time, if it was early enough. He really couldn’t tell by the dim Underground light. 

 

He looked around for a clock.  Then he remembered there was one in the kitchen. 

 

He grabbed Paps’ shoulder with the intention of shaking him awake but he found himself unable to go through with it.   He just looked so comfortable.  

 

And also, he wasn’t used to someone trusting him so much as to fall asleep right on top on him like he was.   Not since Papyrus and him were very young and used to cuddled together to keep warm. 

 

Back when he was a cool younger brother and not a minion. 

 

A minion afraid to be late to give a non existent report. 

 

He scrunched his face at the stupid feelings swirling around his soul and huffed.  He really needed to get out of there.  He put both his hands on Paps head with the intention of … gently … moving him out of the way when he became aware on how warm the taller skeleton was. 

 

That must be what a fever felt like.

 

It turned out he really didn’t have to be gentle with Paps. He was completely out of it and he probably wouldn’t have woken up if he had thrown him off the couch. 

 

Red shimmied himself from under Paps and off the couch.   He checked on Paps again and yes, that HAD TO be a fever.  He picked up some of the couch cushions that were on the floor and put them under his head. 

 

_Great.  Just great._

 

His body protested at him sleeping sitting up and he had to take a moment to stretch the stiffness out of his neck, adding to his wor- annoyance.  His eyes turned towards the clock in the kitchen.  It was 5:47 a.m.  Ok.  That gave him some time.  He could teleport to the Underfell portal if he needed to. 

 

Paps, had mentioned that Blue was away visiting the Queen -he guessed she was nice and open to visitors in this world- but the tall skeleton had failed to mention when he was coming back.  He didn’t want to leave his friend alone like that.  It just … wouldn’t be .. ni….poli…he would be an absolute jerk if he did that.

 

It .. it was just a fever … yeah.  Nobody ever dusted from a fever.  Then again, this was Underswap.  The land of fluffiness.   Maybe monsters could get _dusted_ from a fever.

 

He ran the tips of his fingers from his forehead all the way down to his jawline.  _Goddammit, what was he supposed to do?_

 

He went into the kitchen and looked through the cupboards, throwing stuff here and there.  Surely, the Swap brother’s kept a medical kit.  He had seen Blue put green bandaids on Paps one time he had scratched his finger bone with a fish hook. A totally unnecessary gesture since the wound was very minor and had probably had healed already by the time Blue had finished ministering the first aid.  But Red had seen that Paps enjoyed the attention and had allowed his brother to fuss. 

 

_Sometimes they made it really hard to not be envious._

Red huffed and opened the fridge.  Well if not bandaids, maybe food.   Then he remembered how Paps had declined eating last night.  He eyed the left over tacos that Blue had made probably a couple of nights before.  He unconsciously growled at them. That skeleton really needed some cooking lessons. 

 

He slammed the fridge door close and looked at the wall clock.  A little past 6 a.m.  **_AH_**

 

Fever, fever, fever, a fever meant that your body was too hot.  Right?  So it would make sense that something cold would help.  Bicicles!

 

He grabbed a kitchen chair to stand on and opened the fridge freezer door.  He look inside expectantly but his expression soon returned to sour when he couldn’t find the traditional healing food.  SHIT.  This place really went to hell the moment that blue bug went away for a few days.  There wasn’t even ice in the thing.

 

He jumped off the chair and was half considering putting it back to where it belonged when another thought occurred to him.  _Snow._

 

_Of course!_

 

He opened one of the living room windows with triumph and reached out to scoop as much snow as he could with his two hands.  He carried his bounty over to Paps and half considered that this may not be a really good idea, but he decided that no, this was an excellent way to deal with this.

 

He dropped the whole lump of snow on Pap’s face.

 

Now.

 

There is a kind of noise people make when they are surprised.   Truly surprised.  Not the the “Ah I didn’t expect that” noise, but more like “My life's in danger and I have lost absolute control of my limbs” noise.  It’s somewhere in between a wheeze and, a gasp and usually followed by very impolite words.

 

Well, monsters can make that noise too.

 

And Paps did.  Softly, compared to the second time he made it when Red decided to go and apply a second coating of snow.  Hey, it got Paps off the couch and pretty much awake, even if he was still mostly on the floor.

 

The only reason a third helping didn’t happen was because Red was stopped by Paps raised hand and the “What the hell, Red” that followed. 

 

The tone had registered with the younger skeleton.  It sounded way too much like his Underfell counterpart. 

 

“I am just trying to help” Red said resentfully if, maybe, just a smidge concerned at Paps reaction. 

 

Papyrus sniffed deeply and finished wiping the rest of the snow from his face.  His head felt too muddled and tired to be dealing with such a cold wake up call.  “Ok, fine, just stop” He said trying to, but failing to suppress a coughing fit. 

 

Red closed the window and fought the urge to ask if he was ok.  _Of course, he wasn’t. That was a dumb question._ Instead he dug his hands into his jacket and waited for the coughing to stop. 

 

Paps looked around sleepily.  “What … what was that about?”

 

“You had a fever” mumbled Red grumpily.  “I was trying to bring it down”

 

“A fever?” Papyrus felt his own forehead.  “Oh… I guess I do…”

 

“Oh ..it didn’t …”

 

“No, snow usually doesn’t help” said Paps good naturally.  He got up unsteadily.  “Thanks, anyway”

 

Red sighed.  Then he remembered his dilemma and shot a look at the clock.  "SHIT.  I have to go NOW."

 

“Uh… why?” said Papyrus sitting down back on the couch and distractedly wiping some of the leftover snow from the couch unto the carpet.  He would deal with that later.

 

“I have to be home by 7:00 a.m.!” grumbled Red rushing for the door. 

 

Papyrus frowned at this. “Because of work or, your brother?”

 

Red’s hand grappled the front door’s doorknob.  “DOES IT MATTER?”

 

“Yes”

 

“I HAVE TO GO NOW, OK?”  

 

“Ok, but you are still wearing Sans’ clothes” pointed out Papyrus burrowing his own hands inside his hoodie’s front pocket. 

 

“Wha…. AAAAUGHHGG!”  screamed Red and rushed over to where his own, now dry, clothes were laid out.  He practically jumped out of his jacket and borrowed shirt and, put on his red sweater.

 

Papyrus’ hands clenched inside his hoodie when he noticed scars along Red’s ribs and arms.  Nothing too recent that he could see from his position. From personal experience, he knew that in order for a monster to have any kind of scar, the injury had to be either very serious or, the monster’s innate healing magic very weak at the time of injury. 

 

He wondered.  He wondered if he asked, would that be too much?

 

Red had started taking off his borrowed pants when he stopped and glared at Papyrus. It was only then that the tall skeleton realized that he had been staring.

 

“Some privacy?” growled Red.

 

“Oh, yeah…” said Papyrus and he looked away. 

 

Red huffed and switched pants in record time.

 

Once back in his own clothes, Red realized that he had a mere 20 minutes to get to the portal then back home.  He winced. He really hated teleporting.  It left him dizzy and with a metallic taste in his mouth that lasted for hours, but, it was his best chance now. 

 

“I’m leaving” he announced avoiding Papyrus’ eyes. When he didn’t get a response back he continued “Call your brother.  Let him know he needs to get his butt back home.” 

 

Red closed his eyes concentrating on the position of the portal.  Once the shortcut opened up in his mind he lifted his left foot to take that one step forward to initiate the teleportation.  He suddenly felt himself being both pulled back and forward.  

 

The first thing he noticed was the wave of dizziness that came with every teleportation.  The second thing was that he was being held in place by two arms around his torso. 

 

“Don’t…” he heard Papyrus say behind him.  Then some coughing. “Oh oops, I guess you teleported anyway” His voice sounded raspy. 

 

Red took a moment to let the dizziness settle before he allowed himself to be angry at Paps quite literally piggy backing on his teleport. 

 

“Asshole!” he said “Why did you do that? You shouldn’t be outside! That’s how you got this way!” 

 

“Hey, you’re the one who was leaving without saying a proper goodbye” sniffed Papyrus, but the slight blush on his cheekbones betrayed how embarrassed, surprised or feverish he was…

 

_In any case…_

 

“Oh my god!” exclaimed Red “GO HOME!” 

 

The small skeleton then turned and headed towards the entrance of the cave that hid the portal between their worlds. 

 

“You don’t have to” he heard Papyrus just before he crossed the threshold.  He stopped.

 

“What?” Red said not turning around. 

 

Papyrus cleared his throat.  “You don’t have to.   I know you’re miserable there.  You can stay here”

 

Red’s hand clawed at the stone wall it was resting on. 

 

“No.  … I…” he said in a small voice.  Then he cleared his own throat.  “No.”

 

Papyrus sighed.

 

“Ok, then”

 

“Go home” said Red “I’ll see you later”

 

Red heard Papyrus walk away.  He squeezed his eyes shut and rushed into the cave.  _Fuck him._

 

Once he was in the more open corridor, he ran around the bend and towards the portal.  _Fuck all of them._

 

_How dare him feel bad about his OWN world. How dare him tempt him like that?   He would never leave his brother like that. Even if… even if he wasn’t needed there._

 

.

..

…

 

Papyrus stopped a little ways from the portal.  He stared at his cold, wet socks.  He really didn’t know what had gotten over him.  He couldn’t believe he had said that to Red.  Ever since he had met him and briefly, his brother, he had promised himself to not intervene in their affairs.  Unless, of course, Red asked.  Then he would intervene.  He would intervene so good.

 

Until then, it was none of his business.

 

Still…

 

What if Red never asked?  What if things only got worse for him? 

 

Nah.  

 

Fell was a jerk, but he would never hurt his brother.

 

He was sure of it … he was pretty sure of it…. He should...

 

He coughed again.

 

His head was pounding.  He would have to walk all the way back.  No way he could manage a teleport with his head all scrambled like that.

 

He searched around his pockets and found a cigarette and his lighter.  Oh hey, good news at least. 

 

He lighted the cigarette and took a long drag out of it which ended up throwing him into another coughing fit.

 

“Don’t smoke if it's going to make you sicker!”  he heard Red growl at him.

 

Papyrus opened his eyes in surprise and spotted Red standing right besides him. 

 

“Red?” he said shakily. 

 

The small skeleton reached over and snatched the cigarette from Papyrus and threw it into a snowbank.  “C’mon” he said and walked a few steps in front of him.

 

“What about having to *cough* get home before 7?” insisted Paps

 

“It .. it doesn’t matter” answered Red over his shoulder.

 

Papyrus caught up with Red, grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him to he was facing him.  “Why?” 

 

Red glared at him weakly before sighing and dropping his shoulders. 

 

“The portal is gone”


End file.
